Sport 8: Autumn 1992
Autumnal Words
Autumnal Words
October wind like Savonarola
rips up the incunabula in the trees
and sienna and rust
and ochre
black
and Bordeaux
free from the delicate illuminations
into the lap of clay
Some words
which as yet have no name
some words as lithe as lilies
huddle together as if in love
as if in anguish
maybe white words or azure words
maybe words like screaming silver
maybe words like silenced death
Ah what printshop owner and what publisher
ah what Johann Gensfleisch Gutenberg
ah what printer with a saffron soul
will set these words of autumn
on silken tissue paper
on gossamer-light paper
on hand-made paper
with the water mark
of two mute hearts?
Translated by Ewald Osers